Why the government isn't doing anything about high cable prices

We only use OTA for CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox (not Fox news -- just Fox network TV). I had some trouble getting a strong signal at first, but then I found that if I point the (Yagi) antenna directly at where the towers are on the mountain, we get a good, reliable signal. They're only 13 miles away, so that helps.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I'm a minimum of 40 miles from some of the OTA stations I get, and 60+ miles from more of the big ones. A regular OTA antenna will not bring them in. I've had the best luck with leaf antennas. My first was Mofu brand, the present is RCA, which I've had 2 years. It cost in the $50 price range when I bought it. They are designed to be placed at a window. I do not have any window near where it needs to go, but I'm still getting good reception with it.
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Those do work really well. Not all our TVs sit near enough to a window, but the antennae works just fine on a wall. Walls on the west side of the house bring in stations that broadcast out of San Fransisco, north and east walls pull in local stations.

I just hang it from a tack, so no damage a dab of paint on my fingertip won't fix.
 
The government is doing less than nothing about high cable prices; they're making the situation worse by allowing mergers to go through that reduce or in some cases, eliminate competition. Capitalism requires competition for it to succeed. If the government valued capitalism as they say they do, they would break up the giant media conglomerates and service providers and allow the little guy to have a chance. Granted, the government would have to provide the infrastructure required for competition, and that would be socialism. :rolleyes: The government does subsidize the funding for some of the backbone -- especially for rural areas, but otherwise, it's private investment.
 
hollydolly said:
so how much are you Paying in the USA for a basic package ?
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Basic cable and high speed internet is included in our monthly HOA fee. Years ago it was a separate fee of about $35, I'm not sure what it is today. We also pay about $70 per month for various streaming channels but were thinking of turning off several of them, the content is no longer worth the cost.
 
The last time I had cable tv was 2011 or so. Those kids programs kept going on non stop the whole day and then I had to be nasty and tell the toddlers they could not watch another Mew Mauw series. I switched to dvd's. The end. Lets go play outside.
 
We seldom even watch the television anymore. About the only time we have it turned on is when the weather is going to have storms with possible tornadoes or snowstorms.
We have not had anything except antenna reception for the last 5-6 years, and before that had cable for a while and then tried satellite. Both just were too expensive for us, so we bought an antenna from Amazon and that is what we use. It picks up the local stations, which carry weather information, and that is all we need.
Everything else is streaming that we watch on our iPads.
 
One complaint I've heard over the years against antennas is "They're so ugly up there on your roof." My stepdad put his up in his attic and it worked just fine. Of course, not everyone has an attic but if you do, it's something to consider.
 
officerripley said:
One complaint I've heard over the years against antennas is "They're so ugly up there on your roof." My stepdad put his up in his attic and it worked just fine. Of course, not everyone has an attic but if you do, it's something to consider.
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I had my old antenna taken off my roof about 10 years ago when I had my roof being repaired....I do thik they are ugly... however here in the UK we have to have satelite TV...other than terrestrial so that means satelite dishes.. altho' small and on the side of the house.. some of themare really unnatractive..

Mine is at the back of my house and it's black and small so it blends in.. but some people have grey or white dishes at the front that have rusted and they look terrible

I've still got a TV aerial in the attic, which I used to use 20 year ago or more for a tv that was in one of the bedrooms.. not used it for many years but it's still up there I think

In Spain it was impossible when we first bought our house to get any English speaking channels at all.. unless the Satelite dish was absolutely huge... and cost a lot of money to have installed. We had it put on our Solarium roof.. ( flat roof )... some people had it positioned in their gardens, but it never worked well down low...

This was it on our roof.... my husband standing next to it
Satelite-dish-at-Casa.jpg
... fortunately with the huge influx of English speaking migrants we were able to get a much smaller one within a couple of years...
 
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Pepper said:
I don’t know if son paid my ridiculous cable bill. After all I am not home.

Willing to try antenna tv. Have streaming. Love PBS. Saw magnificent show today on Florence Italy. One of my favorite places in the world talking about my favorite historical time.

The cable bill insane. I am insane for having it. I basically only watch cable news
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I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed a wonderful show like that one❣️
 
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